Environmental

Several environmental factors have been associated with IBD, these include:

Microorganisms

Hygiene hypothesis

Smoking

Oral contraceptive pill

Microorganisms

There is increasing evidence to suggest that the immune response to intestinal microorganisms is important in the pathogenesis of IBD

The distal ileum and colon contain high concentrations of bacteria (more than 10 million million organisms/gram)

Many studies have shown that the body's response to these microorganisms can initiate IBD and/or continue disease. There is ongoing research in this area

Hygiene hypothesis

The premise of the hygiene hypothesis is that lack of childhood exposure to microorganisms changes the way the body responds to these microorganisms when exposed later in life

This may explain the increasing incidence of IBD in some communities in the developed world.

There is ongoing research in this area

Smoking

Active smokers are at an increased risk for acquiring Crohn's disease.

So if you have Crohn's disease, the best thing you can do for your disease is to stop smoking. If a smoker with ulcerative colitis stops smoking, they can experience a flare of their ulcerative colitis

Doctors certainly do NOT advocate smoking to maintain ulcerative colitis remission as the harm from smoking is substantial

Oral contraceptive pill

There is a slight association (about a two-fold risk) between oral contraceptive use and the development of Crohn's disease, but not ulcerative colitis

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